The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-13
PLAYING WHILETHEYLEARN
4 Glimpse of Happy Scenes in the Free
Kindergartens of the City.
How the Children of Poor People Are Taught,
Cared fer and Made Happy by Most
Commendable Charity Organization.

vislt 10 one OF Tree rgdrtens Oh City.
The largest of these, and, perhaps. for that rea-
son the most interesting, is at No. 321 West
Pearl street Il is NOT altogether the most pleas
ing part of the city. In reaching the place one
must pass tenementhouses that do not appear
comfortable wholesome. and see people who
may be described in the same words. There is
caste there. Race, color, or previous or
present condition Of servitude do not affect the
social standing of anybody. Still there is not
the manifestation of want and squalor that may
be found at other points. and barring an occa-
sional zephyr from the west, laden with the
porcine doors of the large establishments in that
direction, the section is quite enduraole Nestled
down in the midst of it is the commodious cottage
where the phianthropic effort is being made to
give the children Of the neigh5orhood a better
start IN life than their parents had
It IL a neat little house in its external aspect,
and very cheerful inside, with its
white walls, its painted floors, its colored pict-
its groups of happy faces. The central thought
of kindergarten work is TO make the children
happy. They do their work under the pleasing
delusion that 1t 10 play, and gradually, as they
being clean and become ambitious to produce
better results in their play tasks. they led to
appreciate the personal advantages OF neatness,
and of working to an end. The younger children
1.-THE baby casses"-fnd their greatest de-
light in clay work. Any child likes to make
mud pies and the satisfaction of the occupation
is not az all diminished by the substitution OF
. bit of clean clay for the native Indiana mud.
At almost any time class will be found
Watching " e' and 'f directing their Efforts.
This little fellow has made a very good lower
crust but he has made the remainder of his
telay into round pellets and heaped them mp
l in the center. He is informed that he has too
: many berries in his pie. A dozen of the pellets
are removed, and he is told to make crust for
- - - - 49, 49,
and she must take her pie to pieces and make it
thinner. So they labor on. pounding the soft
clay with their chubby fists and moulding IL
with all the care and skill they can command.
Funf AS much as any play. and it has it uses.
Any Of these boys may become molders or pot
ters. If girl can make clay pie artistically,
children are getting an education of the eye and
the hand that will be of to them in any de-
partnDent of skilled labor.
In another room the children are having an
object lesson in color. A Christmas tree, soma
what tempest-tossed. but answering the pur-
pose, has been set up in one corner OF the room,
and on il suspended q number OF balls and
other articles of colored stuff 1t is expected in
kindergarten work to teach each child to dis
tineuish the primary colors- In another room
drawing lesson is IN progress 1t appears very
simple; nothing but straight lines, and those
drawn with the aid of rulers but the young
sters have serious struggles in getting them
straight and making one touch another without
crossing IL. Another class is embroidering very
simple designs on perforated card board: and
still another is engaged weaving colored paper
In easy patterns. All OF this work looks like it
might be done without any teaching, but it
looks only 30 those who have already attained
the education necessary for it in some other
school. The irst stems in the education of
child the most difficult; after it has learned
anything. everything else becomes easier to
learn.
few minutes before noon as well as az some
other hours all work is laid aside and the chill
dren sit back in their little chairs in lines along
the walls Then the piano strikes up a march
md thav all la frfn he ha
floor of which are painted two concentric cir
cles, one about twenty feet across and the other
about six feet Led by the teachers. the chill.
drep 60 through the convolutions of q grand
march and at length range themselves on the
large circle. Then come games, and very pretty
games they have. One of them is called 1.-THE
belonging to the game the teacher in charge
calls child to the center and asks her how
many birds she will have in the cage. She sig
mites by holding up so many of her fingers,
and theu$ picks her birds from the large
ring. They all come into the small ring, aud
then go through the motions Of nesting to sleep,
waking, flying away, and coming back at night,
the children singing the while song descriptive
OF these movements.
A intricate game Is s'The Brook" in
which various children take part as BIRDS bees.
flowers, aud children. They act their parts
with much fidelity. especially the bees. which
buzz about at a great rate and stick their fingers
into the hands of the flowers, which are held ont
IN imitation of blooms in asupposititious search
for honey At the close of the plays the teach
turn to make its adieu. The ceremony consists
of q grasp OF the hand aud profound bow that
would do excellent service is the laneers. After
this each one gets its wraps and scampers away
home.
These schools maintained by the Free Kin
dergarten and Childrens Aid Society, which was
organized and incorporated in 1884. 1t a
combination of the Children's Aid Society,
which was a branch of the old Social Science
Society, and the free kindergartens. which were
started in 1882 There were two OF these at the
IN n Of the
on MeCarty street and the other on West Market
street. They were supported by voluntary sub
reached only about one hundred and fifty chill
dren annually. The work proved so valuable,
however. that it led to the more extensive or
Under the present system each member OF the
society contributes 81 annually. and as much
more as is wished. There about It's mem
the fuel for the eartens The children Of the
public schools give purse annually. This is a
purely voluntary contribution of pennies. and is
usually made about Thanksgiving or Christ
mas. Last year the sum amounted to
$l2O. The Sunday-schools also make an
annual contribution at about the time
rs the public schools The primary department.
OF the Second Presbyterian Church gives all its
collections to the free kincergartens. There
ARE. from time to time. miscellaneous voluntary
contributions. and once a &onth the ladies of
the society give reception at the residence of
one of them. at which each person who attends
contributes from % cents up
The society owns but one building, chat on
West Pearl street. It contains five commodious
rooms and cost little over So 000 raised by
contributions in the city. The daily attendance
at this school is about one hundred There are
four other schools One is at ST. Georges
Chapel, corner of Church and Morris streets;
another for colored children. is on Rhode Island
street opposite the City Hospital; another is on
Alrord street above Tenth; and the fourth is at
Liederkranz Hail, Maryland, between
Delaware and Alabama streets. The
four average daily attendance OF
about fifty pupils each. greater num-
Der the rolls, bat owing to the large
amount of sickness always existing amoung
young children the attendance is irregular.
About 700 hundred children receive some in
struction in the five gartens every year. There
also Ave private kindergartens in the city
which reach about hundred children an
praly but these tuition basis
~ is the aim OF the society give all the
children one luncheon day. and to furnish the
needy with clothing. To doths systematically,